About Positive Prevention PLUS

About the Curriculum

In 1993 a School Nurse Administrator and a Professor of Health Science in Southern California, in partnership with the Orange County Chapter of the America Red Cross, began work on developing an HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum for California schools. All three partners saw the need to address the HIV pandemic through the development of prevention materials that would adhere to the recently adopted Education Code which required HIV/AIDS for all middle school and high school students throughout California. Positive Prevention HIV/STD Prevention for California Youth emerged through this partnership, with the input of many teachers and health educators throughout California.

In 1999, the California Department of Education joined the partnership to promote greater distribution of these materials to California schools. With support from the California Department of Education, the California Department of Health Services, and the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross, curriculum materials were developed and expanded to also address the learning needs of Special Education students and Independent Study students.

According to a survey by the California STD Control Branch, Positive Prevention soon became the most commonly used HIV/STD prevention education curriculum in the state, due in part to its strict alignment with California Education Code. Due to the popularity of the curriculum and excellent preliminary research results, the curriculum was expanded to include an America's Youth edition for both middle school and high school which included the same teacher friendly lessons and resource materials for use in schools throughout the United States.

In 2004, with the enactment of the California Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Act, California Education Codes 51930-51939 specified the content of teen pregnancy prevention education. Hence, work began on creating the new Positive Prevention PLUS Sexual Health Education curriculum. Also meticulously aligned with California Education Code and state and national Health Education Standards, and utilizing research-based characteristics of effective prevention curricula, the new Positive Prevention PLUS curriculum fully complies with California Education Code by supplementing the original HIV/STD curriculum with additional lessons on relationships, Safe Surrender, all FDA-approved contraception, STDs, goal-setting and life planning.

About the Authors

Kim Clark

Kim Robert Clark, DrPH, MPH is Professor Emeritus of Public Health Education in the Department of Health Sciences at California State University, San Bernardino. Dr. Clark became involved in HIV/AIDS prevention education in 1989 when he served as Program Coordinator for the California Department of Education’s state-wide HIV/AIDS education project, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to serving as co-author and lead trainer for the Positive Prevention PLUS curriculum, Dr. Clark has also served on the National Health Education Standards and California Health Education Content Standards committees, and as Project Director for the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools’ Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) Tier II Research Project on Teen Pregnancy Prevention.

Christine Ridley

Christine Janet Ridley, RN, MEd has worked extensively in the field of nursing and education throughout the last 25 years. During that time she worked as an elementary school teacher, school nurse, and District School Health Coordinator managing a variety of health programs. Christine also worked as the Project Director for the California Department of Education’s Putting It All Together: Program Guidelines and Resources for State-Mandated HIV/AIDS Prevention Education in California Middle and High Schools, and the establishment of the HIV/STD Project Center for the development, distribution and training of curriculum and media materials. During that time she directed the development of the original Positive Prevention: HIV/STD Prevention Education for Special Populations. Christine also served as an instructor in the Health Science Department at California State University, San Bernardino and the Nursing Department at California State University Fullerton for over 20 years before her recent semi-retirement. She continues to enjoy working on the curriculum as both a co-author and Project Manager.